¹ Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. ² In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

This is the psalm that my wife and I chose as our theme verse when we got married about 20 years ago.

God keeps his promise that when we honour God in building our home, we do not labour in vain. On the contrary, when we build our house apart from God, we can be very certain that our labour in building our house will be in vain.

There is no doubt that God wants us to work hard, since there is no success without effort. However, we must also set correct priorities at work. God has ordained a rest day. Out of seven days in a week, God has set aside a rest day. We should not overwork and neglect worship and fellowship on the Lord’s Day.

Likewise for students, we should study hard during the six days and set aside the LORD’s day for rest and worship.

We must also trust that God will provide. God who owns the cattle of a thousand hills will provide for our needs.

The birds and flowers reminds us that just as God cares for them, He cares even more for us as we are more important and precious in God’s eye compared to the birds and flowers of the field. We should not have fear gripping our hearts, so that we labour but in vain, but should rather exercise faith and trust that He cares and will provide for us.

We are exhorted In Matthew 6: 25-26; 31-33, “therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

There is no security when we live apart from God (v1b). Just as the watchman watches in vain, if we try to establish security on our own effort, we labour in vain. In God is safety and security. We cannot have security if we live in sin or trust in man. Our security must come from God and God alone. For God holds the keys to heaven and hell. Our ultimate destiny depends on God. May I exhort you, if you have not, to come to a saving knowledge of the true and living God. He created what we see today, the trees, the sea, the fishes, the birds and insects.

It is our sin which separates us from God and condemns us to judgment. God loves us. God sent His only begotten Son Jesus to be our Saviour. Jesus came and died for us. He took the sins of us all on Himself. When He was nailed at the cross, through His shed blood, Jesus saved us from our sins. God will pardon our sins and make us righteous. May I urge you to come to know more about the true and living God. Put your trust in God and believe that Jesus is your Saviour. This is the promise from God in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”